Definition: A letter or group of letters added to the end of a word or root (i.e., a base form), serving to form a new word or functioning as an inflectional ending. Adjective: suffixal. There are two types of suffix in English:
A derivational suffix (such as the addition of -ly to an adjective to form an adverb) indicates what type of word it is.
An inflectional suffix (such as the addition of -s to a noun to form a plural) tells something about the word's grammatical behavior.
"Suffixes display all kinds of relationships between form, meaning, and function. Some are rare and have only vague meanings, as with the -een in velveteen. Some have just enough uses to suggest a meaning, as with -iff in bailiff, plaintiff, suggesting someone involved with law."
(Tom McArthur, The Oxford Companion to the English Language. Oxford Univ. Press, 1992)
SUFFIXDefinition:
A letter or group of letters added to the end of a word or root (i.e., a base form), serving to form a new word or functioning as an inflectional ending. Adjective: suffixal.
There are two types of suffix in English:
- A derivational suffix (such as the addition of -ly to an adjective to form an adverb) indicates what type of word it is.
- An inflectional suffix (such as the addition of -s to a noun to form a plural) tells something about the word's grammatical behavior.
- "Suffixes display all kinds of relationships between form, meaning, and function. Some are rare and have only vague meanings, as with the -een in velveteen. Some have just enough uses to suggest a meaning, as with -iff in bailiff, plaintiff, suggesting someone involved with law."
- (Tom McArthur, The Oxford Companion to the English Language. Oxford Univ. Press, 1992)
http://grammar.about.com/od/rs/g/suffixterm.htmNow, Let's work:
Form adjectives from these nouns. Add more to the list, more suffixes and more words.
elevation
addition
casuality
culture
nation
elevational
additional
cassual
cultural
national
honor
honorary
pain
success
hope
painful
successful
hopeful
emblem
system
emblematic
systematic
practice
method
practical
methodical
self
selfish
home
sense
point
hope
homeless
senseless
pointless
hopeless
war
warlike
day
daily
nerve
nervous
mess
cloud
messy
cloudy
misery
miserable
emission
abuse
accumulator
emissive
abusive
accumulative
amaze
amazing
accent
abandon
accented
abandoned